Heating system



W- W- HALLINAN HEATI'NG SYSTEM Aug. 16, 1949.

Original Filed March l, 1946 w z M //zl'am/ VNToR.

Patented Aug. 16, 1949 UNITED sTATEs PA'rENT OFFICE Original application March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,177. Divided and this application August 5, 1948, Serial No. 42,695

8 claims. (01. 237-23 that are to be heated and their location, number of windows, etc. Thus, when the installation is completed, the size of the duet-s is so proportioned that when all of the registersare open, the system is vbalanced and each room will receive its predetermined amount of warm air, which is ealculated to keep .the rooms all at the desired temperature.

Although lsuch systems are balanced when all of the registers are open, they are not balanced when any registers are closed; and this is partioularly bad, as the blower is adapted to provide the volume of hot air which is necessary for all of the rooms, and this condition continues even though the user ha-s closed a number of registers. The housewife may, and does, often close `off the registers leading to the sleeping rooms or to parlors or other rooms which are not used frequently or which she may desire to keep cool. i

This causes a large volume of hot air, which wasintended to heat the rooms that have been shut olf, to be poured .out into the remaining rooms, giving a condition of high, uncomfortable air Velocity and overheating. i One of the `objects of the present invention is the provision of an improved heating system wherein the closing of'any of the registers at the hot air output into the rooms will regulate the conditions existing at the furnace so that the volume vof air passing through the bonnet of the furnace is constantly proportioned to the number of register's which may be open, thus keeping the system in a balanced condition -at Iall times.

Another object of the inven-tion is the provision of an improved heating system in which the volume of air passing through the furnace bonnet is constantly proportioned to the number of registers which may be open at any time and in which the opening of a register corresp'ondingly increases 'the volume of air passing through the furnace bonnet ;so as to supply that register with its proper amount of air, while .still supplying .all of the others.

Another object of the invention Ais the provision of ,an improved system wherein the closing of lany register is adapted to bring about a Chain of events which results in the reduction of the volume of the air passing through the furnace bonnet ;by van amount which is substantially equal to that which would be required by the register or registers which are closed.

Another object `of the invention is the provision 4of a modified, improved system in which the volume of air that is Vdriven through a furnace bonnet by means of a blower is constantly proportioned to the temperature of the' air which is being supplied by the furnace.

Another object ;of the invention is the provision of .an improved heating system in which the blower is adapted to Vbe driven by a thermostatically controlled variable diameter pulley on `the shaft of a constant speed motor and in which the volumeof air Vsupplied to the furnace bonnet is proportionedto the number of registers that is open at anytime.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved 'heat control devices of the class described which are simple, capable of being installed in the existing heating systems and adapted to be used for a long period of time without ne-cessity for repair or replacement.

Another object of the invention is the provision .of an improved heating system in which the volume of airdelivered through the registers is controlled 'by both its temperature and its pres- Sure.

tem, withthe pulley Vat its maximum diameter;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l, in partial section, showing the same pulley at its minimum diamet'er,

Referring to Fig. 1, this is a diagrammatic illustration of va 'heating system embodying my invention; In this figure, IO indicates the bonnet of a'hot air furnace' including any suitable source of heat, such as gas, oil, or coal burner; and this bonnet is provided with a plurality of hot air discharge conduits I I, I2 at the top and with a cold air inlet I3 at the bottom.

The cold air inlet connects with a housing I4 of a centrifugal blower I5, which has its intake located at either or both ends of the shaft I6. The centrifugal blower |5 is located in a coldair duct or housing I'I, which communicates with a cold air inlet duct l8 and may be provided with the usual air filter I9. The centrifugal blower I5 has the usual centrifugal impeller on the shaft I6, which is driven by a V pulley 29 of any suitable type. The pulley is driven by means of V belt 2I, which also engages the V drive pulley 22 on the shaft 23 of a constant speed motor 24.

The hot air ducts II and I2 are each provided with a suitable register 5'I, 58, preferably of the type having a plurality of louvers which can be actuated by means of a hand lever to open or close the louvers. Any type of register, however, may be employed which is provided with a closure, such as an automatic temperature-controlled register operated by a room thermostat.

One of the hot air ducts, such as the air duct I 2, is preferably provided with a pressure responsive device of the type indicated at 62. This consists of a laterally extending housing 65, which is provided with an end wall 64 that is curved to fit the pipe or conduit I2 at its upper edge; two side walls 65, and an end wall 66.

Like the end wall 64, the upper edge of the end wall 66 is curved to fit the pipe I2, but the end wall 66 is formed to be partially cylindrical upon a center which corresponds to the center of pivot 61 of a pressure vane 68.

The pressure vane 68 is pivoted at 61 upon the lower edge of the wall 64 and is provided with a rearwardly extending balance arm 69, carrying an adjustable weight 18. preferably rectangular in bottom plan, and the vane 68 is complementary in shape; that is, rec- .tangular, so that its edges are only slightly spaced from the side walls 65 and fromthe cylindrically curved end wall 66.

Thus, the vane 68 may move pivotally with a minimum amount of friction and a minimum amount of air leaakge. It may be actuated by very slight changes in pressure in the entire system, which includes the furnace bonnet IO and air ducts II, I2. The pivot shaft 61 for the vane 68 preferably has a laterally extending crank arm 'II, which is pivotally connected at 12 to a link 13 that is pivotally connected at 14 to a damper arm 15.

The damper arm 15 is fixedly secured lto a damper shaft 16, which carrier a butterfiy damper 'I'I located in the hot air pipe 39 that conducts the hot air to the thermostat 32, which forms a part of the thermostatically Controlled variable diameter pulley 22.

This variable speed pulley may be of the type shown in my prior patent, No. 2275,429, issued March 10, 1942; and the pulley is mounted herein for efiecting a zone control and producing substantially the same results as are attained by the heating system of the parent patent application, of which this is a division.

The thermostatically Controlled pulley 22 includes a fixed pulley section 28, upon which is slidably mounted a movable pulley section 29, both of these pulley Sections having the opposed frusto-conical surfaces 39, 3| for engaging the V belt 2|. The pulley Sections 28 and 29 are controlled by a thermostat 32, which may be of the The housing 65 is bellows type, and which has its right or fixed end carried by a frame 33 or housing of substantially U shape.

The legs 34, 35 are fixedly secured to the hub 36 of the fixed pulley section 28. The movable pulley section 29 has a slot 31 for receiving the legs of the frame so that this section may slide, but cannot rotate relative to the fixed pulley section 28.

The thermostat 32 reacts against the frame 33, and acts on the end of the hub 38 on the movable. pulley section to urge the two pulley sections together.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, Fig. 2 shows the pulley in its position of maximum diameter, the thermostat having expanded to force the two pulley'sections together, the belt riding outward on the frusto-conical surfaces 39 and 3| to the position shown.

Fig. 3 shows the position of the parts when the thermostat 'is contracted and the belt has forced the Sections apart until it almost rides on the hub 36.

The bellows thermostat 32 is preferably filled with a suitable supply of volatile refrigerant, which begins to vaporize at a predetermined temperature, and is sufiicient in amount so that all is vaporized When the thermostat has expanded to the maximum pulley diameter.

Thus the thermostat will not be ruptured by additional eXpansion of the refrigerant, which takes place merely on super-heating, and will not be excessive. Various types of refrigerant may be used, as described in my prior applications; but for an air conditioning installation I prefer to use trichloromonofluoromethane (F 11). The refrigerant selected would depend upon the range of temperatures desired.

The thermostat 32 of the variable diameter pulley 22 is preferably subjected to the action of a sample or specimen of air from the top of the furnace bonnet Ii); and this may be accomplished by extending a small hot air conduit 39 from the top of the furnace bonnet down into the housing I'I' into a position where the axially turned end of the conduit 39 surrounds the thermostat of the pulley 22.

Thus, when the blower is being driven, there will be a circulation of hot air from the furnace bonnet directly to the thermostat 32 so that the variable diameter pulley 22 is actuated responsive to the temperature of the air which is beingdischarged from the furnace bonnet.

The operation of this part of the system so far may be substantially as described in my prior Patent No. 2,275,429; the details of the thermostatic pulley may also be as described therein.

As the temperature Vof the air increases, the thermostat 32 expands, driving the pulley sections together and increasing the effective diameter of the driving pulley 22. This increases the speed of rotation of the blower shaft I6 and increases the volume of air passing through the furnace bonnet III.

As the temperature of the furnace increases, a greater volume of air may be blown through it. As the temperature of the air discharged from the furnace bonnet decreases, the blower is slowed down; and thus there are no cold drafts of air blown into the room when the present system is used, although the blower is driven by a constant speed motor.

In addition to this result, the present modification is adapted to efiect a zone control of the hot air which is discharged from the furnace bonnet ,10. For this purpose the conduit 39, which extends from the top of the bonnet Ill and conducts air to the thermostat 32, is provided with a damper 11 adapted to be actuated by a pressure responsive vane 68.

When the heating system is installed, the sizes of the furnace bonnet and the various conduits are made such that each room gets the desired amount of heat when all of the registers are open. Were it not for the mechanism of the present invention, when one or more of the registers is closed, the system 'would be out of balance; and the hot air, which would otherwise go to the room where the register is now closed, would be conducted to other rooms, with the result that, although one register is closed, a larger amount of hot air pours out of the other hot air ducts, creating high air velocities and overheating Vthe other rooms. i a When one o f the registers is closed, this naturally'causes an increase in the static pressure in the various ducts of the heating system. Such an increase of pressure may amount to only a few ounces or a fraction .of anV ounce, but the vane 68 is quite sensitively balanced by means of an adjustable weight 1.0.

According to my invention, any increase in the static. pressure in the conduit l2 causes. the yane 68 to be moved downward from the full line position to the dotted line position or to some intermediate position.

As the Vane 68 moves downward, the crank arms andlinks H, 1.5, 13 tend to turn the butterfly damper 17 so as to throttle the amount of' hot air that is fed to the'thermostat 32.

Any throttling of the heated air in the conduit 39 diminishes the hot air that pours upon the thermostat 32; and this hot air, being mixed with cold air in the housing l'l, the heating effect on the thermostat 32 is diminished. Thus, whenever a register is closed, the vane 68 is actuated to a predetermined degree, closing the damper 'l'l to a predetermined degree, diminishing the heat on the thermostat 32 and tending to decrease the size of the pulley 22, which decreases the volume of air accordingly.

Closing of a register thus diminishes the amount of air which is driven through the heating system by the blower. Closing of two registers will diminish this amount of air still more and cause the pulley 22 to diminish its size still further, diminishing the volume of air which passes through the system in a proportionate amount.

Closing all of the registers will effect a substantial closure of the damper 11, keeping in the bonnet the heat which is generated in the furnace; and of course the furnace will be shut ofi' by the temperature limit switch, thus saving the fuel, which would otherwise be lost by the furnace heating up in spite of the registers being closed.

The present system is thus adapted to regulate the amount of air passing through the system and out of the registers in proportion to the number of registers that are open, and to diminish the amount of air in proportion to the number of registers that have been closed.

The speed of the blower may thus be made proportional to the number or size of registers which are closed, and the amount of air which is driven through the system will thus be made responsive to the number .of registers that are left open.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved heating system in which there is effected an automatic zone control for regulating the amount-of' air that is driven through the sys-fi tem by the blower, in accordance with the number of registers that may be open at any time.

My improved heating system may be embodied in any of the modern existing installations by merely adding the devices whch are necessary to effect this control, While still utilizing the same blower and the same constant speed motor and other equipment of the heating system.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit of the jnvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precie details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claimsf Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United' States, is:

l. In a heating system, the combination of a furnace providedwith a casing having a cold-air inlet duct and' hot-air Outlet ducts, a blower l'ocatediin the cold-air inlet and driven by a substanti'ally constant speed motor, said blower having a pulley and said* motor having a therm-alzly responsive; variable diameter pulley, the said pulleys engaging a V-belt, said' vari'able diameter pulley comprising a pair of sections slidably mounted with respect lto each other and having thermosta'tic means carried by one section and reacting against' the other section t-o change-the distance` between twov beIt-engaging surfaces, thus changing the effectivediameterat which the belt is engagedby-said'variable'diameter pulley; a hotair `dut extending from the furnace'casingtothe thermostatic means and'supplyinghotair tocontrol said thermostat, a valve in said latter hot-air duct, a movable vane located in one of the hotair ducts of the heating system and operatively connected to said valve, the said system being so proportioned that When all of the ducts are open each hot-air duct receives a predetermined amount of hot air from the f'urnace, but when one of the registers is closed an increase in pressure is caused in the system, acting upon said movable vane to effect a partial closure of the hot-air duct leading` to the thermostat, and decreasing the amount of hot air acting on the thermostat, thus causing the thermostat to contract and permitting the pulley Sections to separate to reduce the effective diameter of the pulley and thus reducing the speed at which the blower is driven so that the blower is driven at a speed suitable for the number of registers which are open.

2. In a heating system, the combination of a furnace provided with a casing having a cold-air inlet duct and hot-air outlet ducts, a blower located in the cold-air inlet and driven by a substantially constant speed motor, said blower having a pulley and said motor having a thermally responsive variable diameter pulley, the said pulleys engaging a V-belt, said variable diameter pulley comprising a pair of sections slidably mounted with respect to each other and having thermostatic means carried by one section and reacting against the other section to change the distance between two belt-engaging surfaces, thus changing the effective diameter at which the belt is engaged by said variable diameter pulley, a hotair duct extending from the furnace casing to the thermostatic means and supplying hot air to control said thermostat, a Valve in said latter hot-air duct, a movable vane located in one of the hot-air ducts of the heating system and operatively con- 2,479,oee

nected to'said valve, the said system being so proportioned that when all of the ducts are open eachV hot-air duct receives a predetermined amount of hot air from the furnace, but when one of the registers is closed an increase in pressure is ,caused in the system, acting upon said movable vane to effect a partial closure. of the hot-air duet leading to the thermostat, and decreasing the amount of hot air acting on the thermostat, thus causng the thermostat to contract and permitting the pulley sections to separate to reduce the effective diameter of the pulley and thus reducing the speed at which the blower is driven so that the blower is driven at a speed suitable for the number of registers which are open, and the closure of a plurality of registers causing a proportionate additional increase in pressure in the system which further diminishes the hot air supplied to the thermostat and further reduces the effective diameter of the pulley and the speed of operation of the blower to an amount suitable for the registers then open.

3. In a heating system, the combination of a furnace provided with a casing having a cold-air inlet duct and hot-air outlet ducts, a blower located in the cold-air inlet and driven by a substantially constant speed motor, .said blower having a pulley and said motor having a thermally responsive variable diameter pulley, the said pulleys engaging a V-belt, said variable diameter pulley comprising a pair of Sections slidably mounted with respect to'each other and having thermostatic means carried by one section and reacting against the other section to change the distance between two belt-engagng surfaces, thus changing the effective diameter at which the belt is engaged by said variable diameter pulley, a hot-air duct extending from the furnace casing to the thermostatic means and supplyng hot air to control said thermostat, a valve in said latter hot-air duct, a movable vane located in one of the hot-air ducts of the heating system and operatively connected to said valve, the said system being so proportioned that when all of the ducts are open each hot-air duct receives a predetermined amount of hot air from the furnace, but when one of the registers is closed an increase in pressure is caused in the system, acting 'upon said movable vane to effect a partial closure of the hot-air duct leading to the thermostat, and decreasing the amount of hot air acting on the thermostat, thus causing the thermostat to contract and permitting the pulley sections to separate to reduce the effective diameter of the pulley and thus reducing the speed at which the blower is driven so that the blower is driven at a speed suitable for the number of registers which are open, the said vane being counterbalanced to render it responsive to minute variations of pressure in its hot-air duct.

` WILLIAM W. HALLINAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,949,735 Bulkeley Mar. 6, 1934 2,295,841 Hallinan Mar. 10, 1942 2,318,358 Bedford May 4, 1943 

